By Beena Raghavendran

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Minneapolis — The starting bell had rung at Andover High School on Tuesday afternoon, but five students in the back of Richard Wilkie’s government class kept standing. Leaning against waist-high desks, they cracked open textbooks and scribbled notes on the foreign policy lesson ahead.

Stand-up desks like these are popping up in classrooms across the Twin Cities metro area, capitalizing on the push toward more flexible furnishings in schools. Teachers say they love the mobility and choice in classrooms; students say their focus is sharpened when they can stand during class.

Administrators would like to have more of these trendy desks, but most districts can afford only a few. The costs are steep: They can range from $250 to $550.

The first-come, first-served desks are hot commodities in Wilkie’s afternoon class. “They run to the class to see who can be back there,” he said.

The Anoka-Hennepin School District received the desks through a donation from the American Heart Association, and Wilkie’s classroom is the only one in the high school to offer them.

“I wish more classes had them,” said Alyssa Reinke, an Andover High senior who has used the desks a few times.